County to fight graffiti, regulate junkyards

Harris County Commissioners Court on Tuesday voted to widen enforcement of graffiti removal by charging building owners who fail to remove the unwanted tagging from their properties. The court also passed a plan to begin regulating junkyards.

The two unrelated programs are allowed by recent changes in state law giving the county authority for graffiti removal, as well as ordinance-making power to license junkyards to enforce regulations regarding solid waste disposal, hazardous waste storage and the location of salvage yards in floodplains.

Commissioner Sylvia Garcia said a new state law will boost the sheriff department's graffiti removal unit by giving the county a number of ways — in person, by mail, by publication, a sign on the door or a yard sign — to legally notify a property owner that graffiti must be removed. If the property owner does not remove the graffiti in 15 days, it will be removed by the sheriff's department and the owner billed, which could result in a lien against the property if not paid, Garcia said.

“This is just another tool to clean up a neighborhood and remind any property owner that if graffiti stays ... it deteriorates the neighborhood, it invites crime, it invites more of the same,“ Garcia said. “This bill was passed ... to try to get property owners to be a little bit more responsible, a little bit more cooperative with law enforcement to take care of these issues.”

“There's no real reason not to paint over graffiti,“ she said, adding, “We just want a true partnership between community groups, law enforcement and property owners.”

Inmates scrub graffiti

The sheriff's department started a graffiti abatement unit two weeks ago. Using jail inmates as labor, the unit so far has removed graffiti from 38 properties, said Rhonda Sauter, the department's community affairs liaison. Four of the properties already have been “retagged,“ she said.

“Our plans are to go countywide, but I don't know when,” said Sauter, adding that funding has not yet been determined. “Gang graffiti sends a message. The purpose is to mark your territory. We want neighborhoods to belong to the community, not the gangs who are marking their territory.”

John Blunt, the county's director of architecture and engineering, said the new junkyard rules will allow the county to issue licenses to salvage yards to ensure they comply with state environmental laws and inspect them annually. The program will not take effect until Jan. 1, and notices will be sent to businesses affected.

“What this does is establish a licensing program that sets additional requirements as far as location in the flood plain and floodway,” Blunt told the court. “We actually go out and verify they are 300 feet from a school, a church or a single family residence, and 1,000 feet away from a stream.”

No junkyard operators spoke about the proposal before Tuesday's vote, but an environmental activist supported the measure.

“I know these industries emit a lot of pollutants into the bay, so that would be a concern and I think licensing and seeing how these are operated would be a good idea,” said Charlotte Wells, of the non-profit Galveston Baykeeper in Shore Acres.

‘Money-grubbing'

Members of the salvage industry, contacted after Tuesday's court meeting, were skeptical.

“They're over-reaching. It's strictly money-grubbing. They're trying to suck all the money they can out of the people in the county. They have enough fines and tariffs and fees as it, and now they are nickeling and diming people to death,” said Steve Schuff, who manages ASAP Motors & Parts in the Jersey Village area. “When I worked at junkyards, they only go after licensed yards, but probably 35 percent of the yards are not licensed. They're penalizing those who are legitimate.”